Riyadh Metro Becomes World’s Longest Driverless Train Network

Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Metro, with 176 km, has been included in the Guinness World Records as the world's longest driverless network.

• Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Metro has been officially certified by the Guinness World Records as the world's longest fully driverless train network, which extends up to 176 km on six lines and 85 stations.
• This major achievement shows the Kingdom's commitment to advanced urban mobility and makes Riyadh a global leader in high-tech transportation infrastructure.
• The announcement and formal recognition report was later given in November, 2025 by the regional press and the Royal Commission for Riyadh City.

King Abdulaziz Project

• From a technical point of view, the metro is part of the large King Abdulaziz Project for Riyadh Public Transport, which is a major effort of the Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC) to rethink urban mobility in Riyadh.
• The metro is not only long, it is fully automated, which runs on a driverless (GoA4) model, in which the movement of all trains is managed from a centralized control room which ensures real-time monitoring, punctuality and safety.
• Talking about the trains and infrastructure, the Riyadh Metro has an advanced fleet taken from the world's well-known transit manufacturers.
• According to the system's specifications, it uses a mix of metro trains made by Siemens, Bombardier (Innovia Series), and Alstom (Metropolis Series) according to the line, which provide the latest rolling stock designed for comfort, energy efficiency, and reliability.

Riyadh Metro

• The idea of the Riyadh Metro is from 2012, when the government approved the King Abdulaziz Project for Riyadh Public Transport, in which it was planned to build a large public-transport network for the capital.
• In July 2013, contracts to build the metro were given to international consortiums, and in 2014 formal construction began with major civil works, tunneling, and infrastructure building.
• On 27 November 2024, the metro was officially inaugurated, starting public service. When completed, this network will be spread over 176 kilometers in six metro lines and will have 85 stations, which makes it not only the backbone of Riyadh's transport plan but also the world's largest fully driverless metro network.
• Building the Riyadh Metro was a very large financial, technical, and logistic task. The total cost of the project has been reported to be approximately US $22.5 to $25 billion.
• This project includes 190 fully automated trains of the world's major manufacturers, whose fleets are from companies like Siemens, Bombardier, and Alstom, which are designed for high capacity, comfort, and energy efficiency.

Saudi Arabia

• Officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a country in Western Asia. Located in the center of the Middle East, it covers a large part of the Arabian Peninsula and its land area is approximately 2,150,000 km² (830,000 square miles), which makes it the fifth largest country in Asia, the largest in the Middle East, and the twelfth largest country in the world.
• In the northwest, the Gulf of Aqaba separates Saudi Arabia from Egypt and Israel. Saudi Arabia is the only country whose coastline lies along both the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, and most of its terrain is made up of arid desert, lowlands, plains, and mountains.
• Its capital and largest city is Riyadh; other major cities include Jeddah and Islam's two holiest cities, Mecca and Medina. With a population of approximately 32.2 million, Saudi Arabia is the fourth most populous country in the Arab world.
• Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932 by King Abdulaziz, who unified parts of Hejaz, Najd, Eastern Arabia, and Southern Arabia (Asir) into one state through a series of military and political campaigns that began in 1901.